#Hanaleeappreciationweek
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hanaleeappreciationweek · 9 months ago
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(this awesome poster is the handiwork of our wonderful host @sazanes!!)
Note: So sorry for the delay in getting this out!! IRL has been a little tricky these days.
It gives us great joy to announce our third edition of the Hana Lee Appreciation Week!!
This year we are holding the AW around World Book Day (23rd April) in honour of Hana's passionate, long-lasting love for books!
Hana is talented at a great number of things, but is passionate about just a few. One is music - the other is reading. It was originally a hobby her parents introduced her to, to gain an advantage as a noblewoman, but Hana grew to love it far beyond what her parents expected. Her fondness for Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, her delightful rebellions in secretly reading Wuthering Heights and manhuas, her adorable habit of leaving sweet notes behind, between the pages of a library book. Her love for books has deep and wonderful, and allowed her a window into worlds she didn't even realize existed!
But books and reading aren't our only themes for this AW! Take a look at our theme list for what we plan to do for each day:
April 21st - Character Appreciation/Throwback
April 22nd - Flowers/Fashion Design
April 23rd - Bookworm/AU
April 24th - Competitive Hana!/Culinary Love/Music
April 25th - Family/Friendship/Romance
This event will be held from April 21st to 25th. Any content is welcome, as long as it is Hana-centric and shows a positive depiction of her! Fanfic, fanart, meta, edits, moodboards, playlists, headcanons, interactive media - even simple appreciation posts and screenshots of fave scenes will be great!
It isn't absolutely necessary to post content only on the day of the theme! We often accept pieces even when sent on a later date, and also keep a bonus week in case you couldn't finish your pieces during the week. We also don't mind WIPs, so if you have one that is Hana-focused... we'd LOVE to see it!! We also love throwback pieces, so if you have any that you made previously, do reblog them and tag us!
We also will be accepting pieces after the event is over, and all year round until the next HLAW! So even if you have your post ready much later, please don't hesitate to tag us! 🤗
Blogs to Tag: @hanaleeappreciationweek, and hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes
Tags to Use: #hanaleeappreciationweek, #HLAW, #HLAW 2024
There are some incredible fan-community blogs that work tirelessly both to promote creative fandom works and make the experience fun for their writers! Do check them out!!
@choicesficwriterscreations, @choicesmonthlychallenge, @choicesflashfics, @choicespride, @choicesholidays, @choicesprompts, @wordwarriors
If you know any others who would like to be tagged, please let me know! Here are the amazing works sent in for 2023 and '22 if you'd like to get more inspired!
HLAW 2023 | HLAW 2022
See you all next month, and looking forward to all your amazing Hana content!! 🤗🤗
✅✅Signal Boosts will be greatly appreciated!!✅✅
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sazanes · 8 months ago
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Day 3 - Bookworm/AU
It's The Royal Romance but in the world of The Crown & The Flame
Thank You!🥰 @hanaleeappreciationweek and @lizzybeth1986
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jicklet · 8 months ago
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Wanted to do a little something for @hanaleeappreciationweek, because boy do I appreciate my best friend Hana 🥰 (x)
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lizzybeth1986 · 8 months ago
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Reader Fatigue
Book: The Royal Romance
Rating: G
Pairing: Hana Lee x Kiara Theron
Word Count: 2, 501 words
Summary: Over a year after she has settled in with her wife in Cordonia, why does Hana not feel the same joy when she reads??
Tagging @hanaleeappreciationweek and @sazanes for HLAW Day 3: Bookworm, @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW and LGBTQ Archive, and @choicesmaychallenge24 for the theme "Athena: Wisdom".
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Three months.
Hana stirs in her bed, frowning drowsily at the abandoned book on her bedside table. The thought is small, fleeting, a tiny grain of doubt that could be swept away in the wind. Yet it persists, in the harsh, too-bright sunlight streaming in from the French windows in her bedroom, reminding her that it's mid-afternoon; the time she typically would use to enjoy a cup of tea and a light read.
Hana allows herself a small smile as the figure next to her groans and inches a little closer to her, her arms still wrapped loosely around her waist. It's usually Kiara who gets up earlier from their afternoon siestas, teasing her over wanting to read "when your eyes aren't even half-open yet, chérie!"
On weekends, Kiara would encourage her to sleep in a little more. She knew Hana would appreciate the opportunity to binge-read cover-to-cover - perhaps re-read if she really liked the material.
It's been three months now since she's been able to complete a chapter, much less a book.
Hana stretches, catlike, before blindly groping for the book she'd left abandoned on the bedside table. The Crown and the Flame. It's an abridged version, one she'd carried from her childhood home and always found herself devouring in less than two hours...yet somehow she hasn't been able to move past Dominic Hunter's account of his first encounter with a young Princess Kenna at a Beltane festival.
Hana wishes she know how - when! - it had come to this.
When she got married to Kiara last year, it was almost as if the floodgates had opened on everything. Whatever Esther had predicted in that patisserie in Paris - maybe you're fated to be a prim, girly girl adventurer who has unknown depths just waiting to be found! - seemed to be on the cusp of becoming a reality.
Back home in Shanghai, almost every morsel of literature Hana managed to devour was a guilty pleasure; she'd hidden books in secret corners, savoured words and worlds unknown underneath the comforting cocoon of a blanket, uttered half-truths to keep the more scandalous material out of her parents' hands, weaved happy endings and bright futures for favourite couples and charactes, long after she had put the books down.
Hana wonders now if half the fun, back then, was in the secrecy. If half the comfort had come from sharing space with Father and Mother, and knowing they would never truly be able to capture the joy she experienced from reading or make it their own. There was a freedom in that - and for Hana, any freedom would be a luxury to be savoured, like a bonbon from a visiting relative, savoured bite by tiny bite just so the pleasure could last a bit longer.
That shift in circumstances when she married Kiara, had been overwhelming. And perhaps the way she had just gone rogue the minute Kiara gifted her her own personal library, was to be expected.
No rules, no restrictions, no restraints on what she could or couldn't read. The cocoon of her blankets gave way to the vast expanse of her library, with its wide welcoming spaces, its winding staircases, its comforting, velvet seats that allowed her to sink into them, whenever she felt like having a reading marathon.
(Which was often).
Hana had spent so much of her childhood looking over her shoulder as she devoured her books, that the idea of just reading whatever the hell she wanted felt overwhelming. But she grabbed it. With both hands. And embraced the prospect. With all her heart. Hours and hours perusing over every possible scrap of reading material she could find - history, mythology, mystery fiction, true crime, even gothic horror (which she didn't expect to wholeheartedly love the way she does now!).
Whenever the two of them got even a sliver of free time, Kiara would come to expect that Hana would suggest sneaking into the library first.
(For a reading session? To ravish each other against the bookshelves, sending an entire pile of French Renaissance literature tumbling to the floor? Both possibilities held equal appeal)
Hana would even give the occasional gossip rag the once-over, though the abysmal editing and the awful typos made her grit her teeth on occasion.
It was glorious. Novels, poetry, essay collections, her favourite mythological retellings. There was nothing Hana wouldn't read; this library was her oyster. Some evenings when Kiara came home later than Hana did, she wouldn't even bother searching anywhere else in their manor - she'd just make a beeline to the library.
That was a year ago.
Wearily, Hana places a bookmark (handmade, laminated, with pressed dried flowers she had selected herself) on the very page she'd opened, letting out a soft sigh. It's almost as if - after the exhilaration of reading whenever and whatever she liked - her brain has decided it's had enough, and has shut down.
In the first two weeks of this strange predicament, Hana had tried to put it down to different things. Overwork, or the aftermath of juggling all her new roles and all the new skills she'd managed to learn. Perhaps her reading has suffered because she doesn't have the time.
But she knows in her heart that that isn't quite true. Hana isn't sure she has been as free in her life as she has been these past few months. Her calendar has been freed up considerably; she's managed to have more romantic dates with Kiara in the past month than they'd had all year. It can't be a lack of time or even general fatigue, because these days she doesn't do much else that taxes the mind.
No - she has the time. She has the resources - thanks to Kiara, far too much of the resources. And there's no question that she has the desire to keep reading. She just can't ever bring herself to finish.
As she places the book, dully, back on the bedside table, Hana feels a slender arm snaking its way around her waist, a chin nestling against her shoulder with a murmur of approval.
"Mon ange," Kiara whispers, her voice rough, grainy, deep, like freshly-ground coffee. She plants a kiss on Hana's shoulder, lacing their fingers together.
Lazily, Hana turns in Kiara's arms and moves her hands so she can lightly finger her curls, marvelling at how soft they feel in her hands. Kiara takes a long, hard look at Hana as her vision clears, probably wondering what she's hiding. Hana wishes her wife wasn't so good at guessing when something doesn't feel right.
She tries hard to school her features into something more neutral - more fitting for someone who just woke up and wasn't ruminating over something she has lost - but Kiara has never been that easy to fool.
"Everything's okay?" Kiara says, "You've been looking a bit...off for the past few weeks."
Hana looks down, pretending to busy herself with the crocheted fringes of the blanket. Could she laugh it off? Claim that her wife is probably overthinking, that she is worrying over nothing?
Because in the grand scheme of things, it is nothing. She's been doing well. She's never been happier than she is now - she has a home, a purpose, a wife she is madly in love with, passions that she's never felt more free to pursue!
She curses herself as she begins to feel that tell-tale burn in her throat. Struggling to read a book shouldn't affect her this much.
She looks up at Kiara, and almost begins to lie. But Hana knows she's not the best of liars, that most times her eyes give her away. Kiara's fingers are already moving towards the corners of her eyes, brushing the teardrops away.
Hana sniffles. "It's silly."
"Humour me," Kiara nudges her gently. "I don't care how stupid it sounds."
Hana sighs, and tells her. Midway through it all, Kiara props up two pillows against the bedstand and gets them to sit up, Hana safely ensconced in her arms. She tells Kiara everything. How much joy she'd had every time she'd picked up a book. How that joy would spring up double fold if it was about something she barely understood. How easy it was, a year ago, to speed-read the first time, then savour re-reads. How - whenever she felt a little bit naughty - she'd read a book backwards, from the last chapter to the first; giggling as she came to the beginning of the book knowing how it would end.
How...of late...she can find no fun, no joy, in turning to the next page - much less the end of a book.
"It's a stupid, stupid thing to worry about," Hana rails on, "I can just imagine my people at Krysanthe looking at me and shaking their heads and thinking 'oh, the Duchess and her first-world-problems'."
Kiara laughs gently, snuggling Hana closer to her. She passes a small handkerchief to her free hand. "That's all of us, with our people. And they're not completely wrong - of course our lives have always been far better and easier than theirs...most times through their labour. But that doesn't mean that you have to ignore things that confuse or distress you, ma moité." Her hand caresses Hana's shoulder in an attempt to give comfort. "And learning that a pastime so beloved no longer gives you the joy you always got from it...is bound to confuse you."
Hana blows her nose into the handkerchief. "I think a part of it is that...I'm beginning to wonder if I was lying to myself about loving reading books, this whole time."
She takes a deep breath, running her hands back and forth over the soft blanket for comfort. "And if I did...what else have I been lying to myself about? What else will I find I don't like, now that my parents can't dictate the way I live my life? Fashion? Poetry? Music??" Hana takes in a deep breath, almost shocked at the things she's revealing because she hardly ever allowed herself to dwell upon any of this before, much less say it out loud. "What if there's nothing that I liked that I can't put down to parental pressure? What if I keep unraveling, and peeling off, everything I thought I was and find that I'm...well...nothing?"
For one moment, Kiara's eyes seem to search her face, frowning deeply. Then her body goes slack, only her hands enfolding her in a tight, comforting hug. She sighs softly against Hana's hair. "Oh, Hana."
For several minutes, Kiara says nothing - just cradles Hana in her arms, rocking her back and forth, her hands moving in a light caress up and down her spine. When she feels Hana go calmer, she moves her hands to her face, cupping her cheeks.
"What you're facing right now...that's something almost every book lover will have gone through, sometime or other. Especially if their passion was something they had to keep a secret, and they suddenly find that they're no longer bound by any rules or restrictions."
Hana raises her eyes to Kiara's face. "Even you?"
Kiara laughs. "I'm not exactly as passionate about reading as you are, but I've seen that fatigue in Baba often. And I've faced that often with my translation work too. It's what happens when you haven't learnt yet how to regulate your passions. You do too much, you overtax your mind. And maybe this phase...maybe it's your brain and your body screaming for you to find a little bit of balance, darling."
It's now Hana's turn to frown. "What do you mean?"
Kiara's eyes dart upwards, in that way it does whenever she is pondering deeply over the best way to convey a thought. And then she suddenly smiles, almost as if she's found the perfect way to get it across. "You do love chocolate, don't you?"
Hana takes a long, hard look at Kiara's face, then bursts into delighted laughter. "Well, it's impossible to argue about or deny that!"
"What if you gave yourself unlimited access to it...no restrictions, no holds barred, allowing yourself to have as much of it as you've wanted all the time? Would it always taste the same?"
Gazing into her wife's face, Hana marvels at how perfect this analogy is. How fitting. "Of course not. I'd maybe even grow a little sick of it at some point!"
"Does that mean you'd been lying to yourself about loving it this whole time?"
Hana throws back her head and laughs, a full-throated joyful sound this time. "You could even say I'd probably get back to remembering how wonderful it tasted if I spent a little time away from it."
Grinning, Kiara bumps her forehead playfully into Hana's. "Only a bookworm would understand a metaphor that quickly. I wasn't even halfway through explaining that."
Hana slips her hands into Kiara's curls again, just the way she knows her wife likes it. She lets out a watery giggle. "That's very nice to hear."
Kiara exhales and shakes her head. "So much has changed for you, Hana. And it isn't your fault that you found freedom in a thing you loved and pushed yourself into it so much. It's natural for someone who was expected to live her entire life on someone else's terms." She holds one of Hana's hands tight within her own. "When we got married, you approached your reading the way a child would approach a shop full of bonbons for the very first time. Now you're learning the more adult way of doing it - enjoy it... but never too much all at once."
Smiling, her eyes a tiny bit watery, Hana gently cups her wife's chin. "So wise, for one so young," she teases gently.
Kiara playfully punches her arm, pursing her lips in muffled laughter. "Stop sounding like my Baba and act more like my mrati."
In higher spirits now, Hana gives Kiara a quick kiss, then makes a move to get off the bed. "All this talk of chocolate is making me hungry. What do you say I make us a mug each of my special hot chocolate, now that it's almost teatime?"
Kiara smiles, sighing in relief. These are not the words of a woman who is trying to move away, unsuccessfully, from thoughts that disturb her, or an attempt to change the subject. Just a sign that her intrusive, self-flagellation thoughts are moving in a different direction. A better direction.
She nods, eagerly. "Hayati," she says, giving her wife a saucy grin, "when have I ever said no to your hot chocolate?"
--
Translations:
Ma moité - French for "my other half"
Hayati - Darija/Arabic for "my life"
Mon ange - French for "my angel"
Baba, Mrati - Moroccan Darija terms for addressing one's father and wife, respectively
A/N: Post the pandemic I've been struggling a lot with my reading, and had a lot of the same questions my Hana had running in my head. I guess this fic was an attempt to make sense of that, but using Hana's post-marriage context as a springboard.
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cassiopeiacorvus · 8 months ago
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HLAW 2024 DAY 3
Bookworm/AU
tagging: @hanaleeappreciationweek, @lizzybeth1986, @sazanes
✨🎹 She is the pretty sailor-suited Guardian who fights for love and determination! She is Sailor Vega! Feel the strings of her fury and despair! 🎹✨
Hana would make the perfect magical girl and since I just recently finished reading all of the Sailor Moon manga, I couldn't resist.
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masked-alien-lesbian · 8 months ago
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HLAW Day 4: Competitive/Culinary AU
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The Cordonian Bake-off
Pairing: Famous baker Hana Lee x master chef turned baker Raelyn Zane (nonbinary OC)
I decided to combine both Competitive Hana and culinary into one fic. Hana is one of the world's famous bakers, winning all sorts of awards and even had her own show. The problem is that annoying master chef Raelyn Zane is slowly infringing onto Hana's territory. In a competition with all other opponents defeated, it's down to just Hana and Raelyn. Can Hana stay on top? Or will Raelyn's flirtation be her downfall?
"And the clock is ticking folks! Our two finalists are going head to head in this final round of who is Cordonia's best baker!" Carson's voice and the studio audience's cheers were mere background noise to Hana as she quickly went to the cupboards to gather her ingredients. Flour, baking soda-Hana's train of thought abruptly crashed to a halt at the feel of her rival behind her.
Raelyn pressed up behind her, one hand on her hip, their front pressed all along her back as they reached over her head to grab the brown sugar on the top shelf. Hana spun around and Raelyn grins that maddening grin.
"Just need some sugar, sugar." Raelyn winks and backs away. Hana huffs
"There's sugar all the way over there." Raelyn just grins and casts a lazy glance where Hana is pointing.
"Ah. So there is." Raelyn says before turning back to their station. Hana takes a deep breath and hurries back to her station. She refuses to let that infuriating, cute baker get in her head.
The time seemed to fly as the two culinary geniuses worked on their masterpieces. At one point Hana's eyes drifted over to her rival and she marveled at Raelyn's intensity and steady hand as they encased their dessert in meringue. Feeling her eyes on them, they looked up and immediately their facial features softened, the two rivals getting lost into each other's eyes.
"Uh oh, it seems like our two rivals are staring each other down!" Carson's voice shattered the moment and Hana quickly looked back at her work of art, shaking her head to clear it. Their time was almost up!
Soon the audience was counting down the timer.
"4...3...2...1!"
"Alright contestants! If you would please stop and present your desserts to the judges." Carson announces. Soon Hana was carefully sitting her croquembouche tower next to Raelyn's elegant dessert. Hana's heart sank as she eyed Raelyn's perfect looking baked Alaska. Lemon meringue was the most challenging dessert for her and Raelyn's work looked like a master piece.
"What do you have for us contestants?" One of the judges ask. Raelyn nods at Hana to go first.
"My dessert is a croquembouche. A French dessert made up of cream-filled profiteroles stacked together in the cone shape, you see before you, and then caramelized." Hana says proudly.
"It looks beautiful Miss. Lee. What about you Mx. Zane?"
"My dessert is a baked Alaska. A layer of sponge cake topped with chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet encased in meringue and baked in the oven." Raelyn states.
"A very elegant dessert, Mx. Zane." Yvette Flynte, one of the judges says before they all dug into Hana and Raelyn's desserts. Hana and Raelyn stood tensely as the cameras panned across their faces and the judges whispering among themselves.
"We've come to a decision. First off Mx. Zane, your baked Alaska is beautiful. The flavors are complimentary and are perfect together. The only problem is that it has no soul. I've taste tested many of your other dishes Mx. Zane. Your consomme devilish dish is one of the best I've ever had, dare I say, better than mine. Until you've capture that spark that you have with your main course dishes, your desserts will always be lacking." Yvette Flynte says. Raelyn looks down at their feet for a moment before looking back up with a soft smile.
"Thank you Miss. Flynt for your feedback. I'll definitely keep that in mind."
"Now Miss. Lee. This is the best croquembouche I've ever had. The cream filling is different but flavorful, the profiteroles crisp but light to perfection. That is why Miss. Hana Lee...you are this year's winner of the Cordonian Bake-Off!" At this confetti falls from the ceiling and the audience goes wild. Hana gape at the judges who stand up to shake her hand. She looks back at Raelyn who is proudly clapping for her and mouths to her, "good job". Afterwards everything is a blur as the judges present her trophy and she makes her winning statement.
It isn't until she's alone backstage when Raelyn walks into her room.
"Hey congrats! That's one big shiny trophy you got there." Raelyn says walking up to Hana who blushes.
"Thank you. Second place isn't a bad accomplishment yourself." Hana says, Raelyn shrugs.
"It was never really about winning the competition, I mean don't get me wrong. I wanted to win, mainly to impress you but..."Raelyn trails off suddenly unsure of themselves.
"But why? What made you compete then?" Hana asks.
"I mean, broadening my horizons, challenging myself and learning new things is kind of my jam. But mainly I joined this competition to be able to join your circles. I wanted to make an impression on you."
"You definitely made an impression on me. Mainly an annoying one." Hana says heart thumping in her chest. Raelyn wryly rubs the back of their neck.
"Yeah, probably not my best work. I'm sorry. Can we start over? Maybe collab some time?" Raelyn asks nervously.
"Perhaps. Only if you kiss me." Hana says shocking even herself by her boldness. Raelyn lights up and immediately brings their lips together. When they pulled back they have that once maddening now endearing grin on their face.
"What?" Hana asks
"Perhaps I left a different impression on you than just annoyance." Raelyn says smirking, Hana rolls her eyes and grabbing them by the lapels kisses them again.
@sazanes
@hanaleeappreciationweek
@lizzybeth1986
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uselessgay10101 · 8 months ago
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I literally got nothing for #hanaleeappreciationweek (Very shameful of me ik)
So! I give to you, dearest readers, my top 5 hc for Mc x Hana! that are mostly Hana, but Mc kinda had to give that push for her to do.. Anyway!
1. Hana loves watching cheesy lesbian rom-coms
She always loved rom-coms! buuuut they were always your everyday straight ones. Until Mc asked if she wanted to see a Lesbian Rom-com! Hana, of course, was flustered but said yes, and now she has to binge watch a few everu few weeks while hiding her face during the extra cheesy parts
2. Mc was the one who took her to her first pride parade after some convincing
Mc knew Hana had never been to a parade, BUT what she didn't know was Hana WANTED to. To say Hana loved it is an understatement. She was never allowed to think of being anything other than the typical "House Wife." Always be ready for her husband regardless of everything. To think it was 100% okay to be herslef and explore outside of that was..amazing. she could be herslef and be proud. She cried every 15 minutes, and yet she's never felt happier
3. She has a personal goal to make Mc smile as many times as she can
Growing up she never received the attention and love she needed so she'll make sure everyone around her know they are loved. Especially Mc. She has so much love to give and Mc telling her her cheeks hurts from smiling so much when they're together is one of her favorite things to hear
4. Hana confidentiality shows her compedive side after years of hearing Mc fawn over it
Hana has had a comprehensive side since the moment she was born. However, she was never encouraged to let it out much since her parents would say it was "Unlady like." But she now had Mc who would go crazy for it, and that resulted in Hana becoming more assertive in her commpetivenes
5. Mc totally convinced Hana to cut her hair after mentioning she wanted to
Having been told short hair isn't for a girl her entire life, Hana would never have thought she would do it. Thankfully for her, she had Mc who convinced her to after weeks of saying, "But YOU want to!" And "I'll fight anyone who says anything!" So she did. She's never felt so light
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mxcameronrose · 8 months ago
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Hana Appreciation Week 2024 Day 3- Bookworm - AU
For Day 3, I chose Bookworm cuz its Book Day or something so might as well choose it! So I drew Hana reading in bed 💗 Something very simple as that, she deserves some time to herself before some big day!
@hanaleeappreciationweek @sazanes @lizzybeth1986
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exbex · 8 months ago
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“Thank you for sharing your music with me.”
Hana turned the words over in her mind. She hadn’t known Riley for long, but Hana had gotten the impression that she was careful about the way she chose her words. And Riley had been impressed tonight; her eyes and the way she had leaned in close, listening with rapt attention, had said as much.
Haunting and beautiful, were the words she had used to describe Hana’s composition, but she had chosen to part with words of gratitude.
Hana finished washing her face and straightened as she patted her face dry. She looked at herself in the mirror, free of makeup, hair swept back. Her own eyes held her in place, imploring.
Hours ago she would have said that she had invited Riley to the parlor because they were becoming friends. Maybe she would have even admitted that she felt safe with Riley. Riley was a breath of fresh air. When she asked Hana questions about herself, she was actually interested in knowing who Hana was, and not just where Hana fit into the game of chess that everyone else in Hana’s life seemed to be playing.
Maybe that’s why she had chosen to play her own composition for Riley. She had written it at such a lonely time in her life, maybe she had always wanted to be seen and heard.
Hana stood and made her way to the bed. She pulled back the covers and considered how much she loved to play, so much so that she couldn’t bear to be coerced or cajoled into putting herself on display.
She slides into bed but sleep doesn’t yet come. She turns over and and looks out into the night sky, through the space between the curtains. Her parents had always wanted her to play Chopin, Mozart, Vivaldi. And Hana had loved it until she realized that it was just a commodity, prestige for prestige’s sake that so many people valued, while Hana knew that the girl pretending to play piano keys in the pond was just like those composers, so full of music that they had to knit the notes together.
“Thank you for sharing your music with me,” Riley had said. Not praises for her excellent taste or admiration for hitting every note perfectly, but gratitude. “Are you sure you want to play for me?” No demands. Because Riley understood what music meant to Hana, after only knowing her for a handful of days.
Hana turns onto her back, stretches her hand out and taps her fingers against the duvet. It’s been too long since she’s composed.
@hanaleeappreciationweek @sazanes @lizzybeth1986
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mariemarieohcontrary · 1 year ago
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Home (@hanaleeappreciationweek )
I got one piece done at least 😭 So I actually struggled to think of something to draw for Hana because I really wanted to try and make it meaningful somehow. Then I remembered the Home theme and decided to centre it around her childhood and despite how bleak and wretched it was, she was still filled with this kindness that her parents didn't really foster in her but something that was just uniquely her.
Also you guys could see snickerdoodle and a napkin there so ajdhfhsjsh
Do you want to commission me? Click the source!❤️
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lorirwritesfanfic · 1 year ago
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Dance moodboard for @hanaleeappreciationweek day two: Skills vs Passions
This week I got an ask about OCs who practice any sports that also got me thinking about Hana. I often remember the dance battle against Maxwell on the last chapter of TRR book one because she seems to have fun combining steps from dance styles and adding a few moves of her own. I'm sure she must be an amazing dance partner, but I like to think solo dances give her a chance to have more fun because she can do some freestyle💃🏽
Thank you @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes for hosting HLAW once again ❤️
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hanaleeappreciationweek · 8 months ago
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We begin our first day of Hana Lee Appreciation Week 3.0 TOMORROW!!
In our previous editions, we had kept Hana's AWs on days that celebrated her passion - music! This time, we decided to shake things up a little, and hold the event around the time of World Book Day! This time of the year is also fitting because it will be spring in many parts of the world, and there are very few things that remind us of Hana more than flowers do!!
Day 1 has two themes to choose from - Character Appreciation and Throwback.
We love having Character Appreciation as a theme because it encompasses everything!! Anything goes - as long as it includes whatever you love most about Hana.
Throwback is simple - any creative work on Hana that you've done before this edition of HLAW came out! Reblog any fic, art or meta that you've done before on her, and if you'd like to take us through the process of how you made the work - we'd love to read all about it!!
Any content is welcome!! Fanfic, fanart, edits, moodboards, interactive, media, headcanons, screenshots, playlists, meta...even screenshots of your favourite scenes would be great!! Our only requirement is that the content is centered on Hana, and that the depiction of her is positive. You can also send in WIPs in case you don't complete a work!
You can also send in a work on the days following a particular theme - this is no pressure for it to be put up exactly that day! We will also have an extra week for anyone who still needs time 💕 May 4th will be our final official date for entries (to incorporate into our video!) but HLAW will still be open for entries for the rest of the year until the next event!
You can find our full list of prompts here!
Be sure to do the following when making your posts:
1. Use the tags #hanaleeappreciationweek and #HLAW in the tags (along with the day you made the post for - #HLAW Day 1, #HLAW Day 2 etc)
2. Tag @hanaleeappreciationweek as well as hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes, we don't miss out on your posts!
FAN CONTENT BLOGS are instrumental in keeping the fandom alive - with events and fun activities that encourage us all to contribute and create. They have also been amazing in their support towards our character events. Do check them out to see all the new incredible events and prompts coming up!
@choicesficwriterscreations - Primarily fanfic and fanart (no AI allowed). Check out their rules and roster of events!
@choicesmonthlychallenge & @choicesaprilchallenge24 - Any and all content welcome! They have a collection of prompts you can use for the month of April!
@choicespride - Any and all content is welcome, as long as it is centered around queer characters and/or themes.
@choicesflashfics - Primarily fanfic under a 2500 word count. Every week they use new dialogue prompts. The prompts for the coming week will be out soon!
@choicesholidays - Any and all content welcome, as long as it is centered around one of the holidays listed! Currently, they are hosting Spring Fling!
@choicesprompts - Any and all content welcome! You can check out their current Round Robin event here!
Hope to see more incredible works from you all for Hana this week!
Happy Hana Lee Appreciation Week, everyone!!
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sazanes · 8 months ago
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Day 4 - Competitive Hana!/Culinary Love/Music
I just wanted to draw Hana pregnant, because this woman is going to be an incredible mother, then Hana singing to the baby came to mind and then I remembered the wonderful story by @unsettlingconclusions Winds of Change that shows how Hana has the voice of a angel and how she's a spectacular mother 🥰
Thank You!🥰 @hanaleeappreciationweek and @lizzybeth1986
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angelasscribbles · 2 years ago
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HLAW: Relationships/Homes
@lizzybeth1986 @sazanes @hanaleeappreciationweek
My face claim: Angela Yeung Wing (stage name Angelababy)
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Relationships, Home and HCs:
I know that PB has said she is bisexual, and I have written her that way occasionally but I originally HC she was lesbian and wrote her accordingly.
I have paired her most often with Riley. I have put her with Lena a few times. I have made her aromantic. I have given her a fling with Penelope. In my Drake x Leo universe, I paired her with Olivia. I have never paired her with a man other than Liam. I have made her queen twice. In Dark Elf she is escorted to social events by Rashad, but she hates it and only does it to appease her parents so they leave her alone and she can focus on her true objectives.
In Royal Retribution she is engaged to Liam but still lesbian and knowingly going along with the fake engagement until Riley's name can be cleared thing (makes way more sense to me than him choosing Maddie, why not chose Riley's best friend?)
In any universe she and Riley aren't lovers, they are best friends.
Shanghai may be where she was raised, but I HC that once she came to Cordonia and bonded with her found family, Cordonia became home to her. I generally have her living at Valtoria, in Hinge, Liam gave her a duchy as well, the one he stripped from Cedric Vescovi (in canon he just dissolved it again, but I had him simply strip it from Cedric and bestow it on Hana) In The Agreement, she becomes Prime Minister of Valtoria to rule alongside Riley, freeing Drake to return to the King's Guard, his true vocation.
In Hinge, Max is also gay and she and Max are close, like siblings. But honestly, she is sibling close to Liam, Riley, and Drake as well. But I HC it's Riley and Max that she is closest to. Hinge may be my most found family story ever.
Pairings by series:
Complicated/Hinge: I gave her a moment with Cassie (F!OC), after Cassie broke up with Madeleine (because of what she did to Hana at the bachelorette party) and toyed with putting them together, but think I am saving her for Lena in this one.
Savage Love: She and Riley had a one night stand during Leo's social season but become friends during the course of things.
Bad Romance: She slept with Riley prompting Liam to kick her out of the country. Riley leverages the marriage contract to force Liam to bring her back. Hana is aromantic in this one and she and Riley are best friends. She gets together with Penelope at the end.
Royal Retribution: Fake engaged to Liam.
Dark Elf: unenthusiastically dating Rashad, fixated on Riley.
Unexpected: Clearly crushing on Riley. Not sure where that's going yet as I have Riley entangled with both Max and Liam.
American Girl: one past relationship with F!OC so far.
In Your Room: Moves in with Olivia by the end of it.
Victim of Love: Married to Liam, ruining her friendship with Riley in the process.
Law's End: Crushing on Riley but single.
Corondian Karaoke: she has feelings for Riley in these drabbles, sometimes unrequited, sometimes not.
Probably a Bad Idea: a one-shot where she is married to Riley.
Other series/one-shots where she is not a main character put her with a variety of people, usually Liam or Lena.
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lizzybeth1986 · 8 months ago
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Rose Gold
Book: The Royal Romance
Pairing: Hana Lee x Kiara Theron
Rating: PG
Word Count: 4, 304 words
Content Warning: Mention of Gun Violence, Character Injury.
Summary: Six months after King Liam and Queen Esther's wedding, Hana and Kiara take their next big step as a couple.
A/N: Set in the P&Tverse. Since P&T spans the timelines of Books 2 and 3 (the Engagement Tour and the Unity Tour + Liam & Esther's wedding), most of this fic takes place after the series is meant to end, and there are references to things that happen there that aren't canon.
The first half of the fic, however, takes place just before the group reunites with the MC and Drake at the safe house (TRR3, Ch 1).
I've borrowed a few elements from Hana's own engagement to the MC in the books: the rose gold ring, the coin throwing ritual at the foundation and the proposal at the lake.
Tagging @hanaleeappreciationweek for Day 5: Romance, @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW and LGBTQ Archive, and @choicesmaychallenge24 for Hera: Marriage
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October 14th, 2017. Half past Midnight.
Foolishness. Sheer foolishness.
The voice inwardly chiding her right now sounded suspiciously like her mother; for that reason alone she was desperate to ignore it.
But what else would one call an impulse to jump out of a car that could take her in complete secrecy to the city's best safe house, only to race to Argyros and Sons - Cordonia's premier jewellery store - for a gift she wasn't even sure would be accepted...a promise she wasn't even sure its intended recipient would want?
"Looking for something specific, Your Grace?"
Surprised, Hana looked up from the case displaying an assortment of glittering diamond rings. The eyes that met hers in a speculative survey were ocean-blue, marked by wizened crow's feet. It was at the tip of her tongue to correct him (Lady Hana, sir!) when she spotted the Twitter feed on the iPhone in his hand.
News sure does travel fast around the Capitol!
But no sooner had that thought left her head, than the riptide of memories began to flood her.
The Homecoming Ball. Hors d'oeuvres. Speeches. Fireworks. Announcements. Please welcome Esther DuPont, Duchess of Valtoria, and Hana Lee, Duchess of Krysanthe. Cheers. Expectant Gazes. And then...
Darkness. Gunshots. The acrid taste of fear.
Hana bit back a grimace. How long would memories of tonight haunt her? How long would it be before she heard people address her by her new title, without memories of the violence that followed?
She held her handbag with a sudden death-grip, forcing herself to breathe. To push forth happier, sweeter memories.
Unbidden, comes the one memory that had managed to keep her sane this night.
Her laughter.
Sharp. Raucous. Loud. Jarring against the tinkling sounds of cutlery and glassware, as far away as one could get from the soft, windchime quality of delicate laughter, that every female courtier was taught to emulate.
She thought she'd known love until that moment, fool that she was. Thought that no matter who she dated, no matter how distant she'd be from those memories of the social season - Esther would somehow remain her first and forever love.
Until she had taken that one fateful look at Kiara's wildly joyous face, heard her cackle - the kind one would never normally dare to do at court - and realized with piercing clarity that if she were to compare her feelings for these two women, they would be nowhere close.
Her love for Esther had all the subdued warmth of a crackling bonfire. But these newfound feelings for Kiara?? They made her feel like she was plunging herself headfirst into a raging volcano.
Something within Hana had trembled violently in that moment; some premonition that felt searing in its finality.
Kiara was the one. She was all Hana had ever wanted, without knowing it; all that Hana would ever want, from now till eternity. The one in whose arms she would want to stir awake, every day for the rest of her life.
Kiara Thorne, or no one. Kiara Thorne, or lifelong loneliness.
The phrase rang in her ears like a verdict: final, eternal, unchangeable.
When Hana opened her eyes, she found to her consternation that they were blurry from unshed tears. Quickly blinking them away, she noted dully how different the rings on the display now looked.
Certainly she must have moved to another part of the store without knowing. Where before she'd seen glittering, brilliant, ostentatious diamonds, set in white gold and platinum...now she saw stones nestled in the embrace of a warmer, almost blush-toned metal.
Rose gold.
The metal that was all the rage in her mother's birthplace Bethulia, for its delicate shimmer and soft pink hue. Mama had told her often enough in her childhood that their barony's love for it went far beyond just the colour...that her mother - Hana's Nanimaa - loved it for being such a perfect union of gold, silver and copper...
A whisper of a memory of Nanimaa, the one time she'd ever seen her. At a fountain, glowing from the glimmer of abandoned coins.
It took her less than a minute to find exactly what she didn't know she'd been looking for. Had you asked the jeweller about her, he would have told you that the newly appointed Duchess of Krysanthe had chosen her ring with the greatest confidence. The confidence of a woman who had probably wooed her beloved, confessed her love, basked in the joy of being loved back.
A confidence Hana didn't feel.
When she returned to the limo, she was greeted with the sight of a pensive Liam, rubbing the frown between his brows absently with his fingers. A telltale muscle jumped inside his jaw.
"Any news?" Hana whispered, almost dreading the answer.
"Yes," his voice was grainy from exhaustion and guilt. "Three people injured. Bastien, Esther's press secretary, and...."
"And?" Her voice had gone small and high, that a fearful child's.
"And Lady Kiara. She was..."
Hana blinked once, then blinked again. Liam's mouth was moving, yet no sound seemed to come out. All that she could hear was a low, keening noise, like a muffled siren...or like the moan of a woman in terrible pain.
Kiara. Kiara. Kiara.
--
May 12th, 2018. Afternoon.
"How far from the palace are you taking us?" Kiara asks, her voice alight with laughter.
"Not even outside its gates," Hana replies, grinning. Kiara looks down at their fingers laced together, palms almost touching.
They've been together for just six months, and still somehow, the lines on Hana's palm feel as familiar to her now as her own. Without even looking she can conjure up the memory of the heartline on Hana's left palm at a moment's notice - long and deep, starting from her index finger, suggesting she would be a wonderful lover with a very fruitful love experience - and her marriage line, stretching from one end of her palm all the way to her ring finger...suggesting friendly in-laws.
(The thought of luring Hana to marry her under the premise of palmistry is sounding more and more tempting by the minute)
Involuntarily - perhaps to stop herself from checking her trouser pockets once again for that tiny box she took from her vault today - Kiara's hand tightens around Hana's.
Can she dare to hope that fortunate beloved could be her?
She steals a glance in Hana's direction, noting with alarm that her fingers are trembling in Kiara's hand.
"We're here," she says, her voice suddenly small and quivering against the gurgle of water in the courtyard fountain. It's been a palace fixture for several decades now - ornate and imposing - a legacy from King Liam's formidable grandmother, the late Queen Mother Cassandra. According to Kiara's father, the woman had married into the family as a young princess from Monterisso, and for her foreignness alone was expected to be crushed by the strictures of the palace and the expectations of her people - yet in a decade's time she had somehow became the most imposing figure there! There was very little in the palace that didn't have her stamp of approval first.
As they come closer, Kiara sees the one thing Queen Mother Cassandra may not have predicted when this fountain was built - the glimmer of coins, all gleaming in the sunlight like they were minted just yesterday.
Her own smile begins to tremble on her lips, even as she notices Hana swallow a telltale nervous lump in her throat. For the first time since they have gotten here, Kiara notices that Hana's other hand is fisted around something. Something that could very likely be the same coins they just saw in the fountain.
She takes that hand gently in hers, knowing now how nervous Hana must feel; knowing that if they complete the ancient lover's ritual that she so hoped to do today, there will be no going back. She uncoils Hana's fisted hand, finger by quivering finger, watching her face as her breathing quickens. She smiles again - a smile more aimed at reassurance than amusement.
"Are we going to do what I think we're going to do today, ma moité?"
For several seconds, Hana doesn't respond. The three coins in her hand (Heavy. Ornate. Engraved with apples. Ancient) are proof enough. The answer, when it finally comes - almost like it is torn out of her throat for fear that Kiara's feelings may not match her own - is barely audible.
"Only if this is what you want too."
Gold. Silver. Copper. Tossed in one after the other in an ancient lover's ritual - one that Kiara knows only because she'd learned about it from her mother, who'd had friends in Bethulia where this ritual was most popular. Maman and Baba themselves had done it on a trip there when she was a teenager, still squirming over her parents' ability to still act like swoony romantics in their (and this would be said well out of their earshot) "fucking forties!".
Wiser now, Kiara feels the same anticipatory tingles that her parents must have felt back then.
This ritual wasn't for the faint of heart in ancient days. You did it only when you were certain. When you looked at your lover and knew that a life without them wasn't a life worth living.
Well, Kiara muses as she watches a hundred emotions flit in a second over Hana's face, I think I've known that long enough. I've known ever since I saw you fight your father in Shanghai, even when you knew it would cost you everything. Since that one moment, I've been yours.
Planting a tender kiss on the corner of Hana's mouth, she takes the coins. "Ready when you are," she whispers softly.
Hana swallows again, her eyes glistening and moist and relieved all at once. In a silk pouch that dangles from her wrist, she fishes for three coins identical to the ones on Kiara's palm. She breathes deep once, twice, three times.
Kiara links their free hands, grips them tight as they turn their backs to the fountain. Hana looks up, a question in her eyes.
"For friendship!" Kiara says, tossing the copper coin into the fountain. Faint memories of something that almost feels like another lifetime glimmer and fade in her memory. Applewood, sipping water, giggling over their favourite fruits and flowers. The Beaumont Bash. Watching from the sidelines as Hana did the verbel equivalent of ripping out Olivia Nevrakis' spine at the Coronation Ball.
Hana takes out the silver coin, and waits for Kiara to holds up hers'. "For love?"
Engagement tour. Fearing Hana would hate her in Fydelia, but never understanding why that should suddenly matter. Standing with her against a bridge in Paris, each mourning their lost loves.
Finally learning what love really was, when she opened her eyes and truly saw Hana for the very first time.
Kiara nods, touching her forehead to Hana's. "Par amour." Their coins splash in unison in the water.
Her girlfriend lets out a watery giggle as she takes out the final coin, glittering and golden on her palm. Her voice breaks a little as she tosses it behind her. "For...bel- belonging".
Kiara's own sigh releases in a shudder as she lets the final pledge sink in.
There were very few places in the world that truly felt like home to Hana. Not the place where she was born, not the barony that could have been her legacy. It took her months to even find comfort or security in her future in Cordonia - much less belonging.
Without a moment's thought, and without releasing the golden coin in her hand, she cups Hana's face and kisses her. Hana shudders and buries her hands in Kiara's hair, her lips trembling against the unspoken promises in her lover's.
"For belonging," Kiara says it like it is a vow. "And I don't care how long it takes - I give my word right now. I'll never let you feel like you have lost your home. Ever." Another kiss - this time on Hana's temple. "I hope you will always find one. In me."
Hana's smile is warm and dreamlike, her eyes closed as if to savour this moment, her fingers playing with Kiara's curls. She barely notices the sound of Kiara's gold coin landing in the fountain. "I love you, Kiki."
Kiara chuckles at her teasing use of the nickname, brushing Hana's nose with her own. "Together forever?"
Their hands, now free, close around each other. "Together forever."
It's quiet now, except for the sound of collard doves, the rustle of leaves and branches in a light breeze, and their breathing. The air smells of wildflowers, citrus and a subtle floral scent that Kiara knows to be the perfume Hana has been using for months. Orange Blossom. She grins as she remembers. It's a scent Hana has often loved to wear, just for her.
Hana's thumb feathers lightly over the ring finger on Kiara's left hand, almost as if to commit the bare space on it to her memory. Kiara doesn't miss that gaze - bright-eyed and soaked in longing - and how it mirrors a need she has felt ever since they landed at the Capitol last week.
Kiara swallows. She had wanted to take things slow, she really did. Woo her, bathe her in every luxury possible, make this trip even more unforgettable than Hana could ever imagine, and then spring this surprise on her - like a kirsch-soaked cherry topping on an already very tempting Black Forest Cake.
But...but that gaze of Hana's has always been Kiara's undoing.
Simply, she says, "come with me."
Puzzled, Hana looks up. "Where?"
"To Lake Sôse," Kiara whispers, wasting not one more moment and grabbing her hand. Hana lets out a nervous, slightly incredulous laugh as she allows herself to be pulled along.
Kiara isn't sure why she's suddenly rushing this. When she thinks of the elaborate plans she'd been constructing all week - chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne at one of the Capital's premier restaurants, flowers everywhere, a proposal at the hedge maze with a picture together by the swing to commemorate the occasion - she wants to laugh. She isn't even sure why Lake Sôse was the first place she'd thought of just now.
She takes a deep breath, and grounds herself. Uncommonly impulsive though it may be, her decision has been made. There is even a part of her that seems to prefer it to happen this way!Kiara has never been one for last minute changes of plan...but ever since she fell in love with Hana, she's learned to expect - and enjoy - the unexpected.
It's only when she sees the shine in Hana's eyes that she realises why her mind took the turn it did.
Lake Sôse. The one place Hana Lee has always chosen for solace and comfort. The one place in the Capitol where she felt the most at home. It had been here, Hana told Kiara once, that King Liam had told her his plans to appoint her Duchess of Krysanthe. It was here, hours later, that she'd shared that momentous news with her best friend Esther; where Esther - herself aglow with love and a newfound purpose - hugged Hana and told her that the world would now be Hana's oyster.
She'd brought Kiara to this lake for the first time the day after King Liam and Queen Esther's wedding, following a night when the queen herself had been kidnapped, and Hana had joined the king's entourage to rescue her.
A night that Kiara - in constant fear of losing her forever - had recklessly kissed Hana. In public. In front of the entire court. Braving gazes of teasing approval from Kiara's parents, and near-murderous glares from Hana's. The night everyone outside of Hana's friend circle finally realized the two were a couple.
Kiara remembers the day after that like it was yesterday. Something must have changed fundamentally in Hana that night, because the fear seemed to have gone, and with it the compulsive need for hiding and subterfuge and constantly looking over her shoulder. It was as if Hana had faced what she'd thought was the worst thing that could happen to her, and realized she really was strong enough to face that fear.
You're my safe place among people, Hana told her that morning, her fingers lacing through Kiara's. The one I feel most at home with. I want to bring my safe space..to the place in Cordonia I've always felt safest in.
It is afternoon, and the yellow crocuses behind them exude a warm, buttery golden glow in the sunlight. Hana lets out a breathless, incredulous laugh. "You seem like a woman in a very huge rush today, Lady Thorne."
Kiara's own laughter in response is high-pitched and halting. She tries to hide the moistness of her palms as she makes a blind grab for the small velvet box in her purse. "Believe me, this wasn't the way I'd planned this to go at all."
Intrigued, Hana's eyes follow Kiara's hands, and her eyes widen as she recognises the familiar deep blue velvet, the embossed silver lettering on top. Argyros and Sons.
"Is that --"
"Yes," Kiara says, clearing her throat, "I'd been planning this. All week. It was going to be romantic, elaborate, I was going to sweep you off your feet. Just like I'd planned to ask you out seven months ago."
Hana lets out a watery giggle. We all know how that turned out, don't we, qīn'ài de? Kiara can almost hear her saying.
But the humour stops almost immediately when she looks at the box again, and suddenly Hana seems too still, too shocked...too far off from how Kiara hoped she would react.
Kiara lets out a deep breath, then lets the words gush out of her. She's too scared to stop, too terrified to think - the fear that she may be doing too much too soon is so overwhelming that she knows if she stops she won't be able to bring herself to do this for a long, long time to come. The humiliation would be too strong.
"I'm not one for impulse. I never have been. I've never felt comfortable with anything if I didn't have a plan for it first."
Kiara gives herself a moment to half-smile at the irony of it all. Approaching Hana Lee with a smile and a bottle of water, after that first eventful bite of a Cordonian Ruby was definitely an impulse. So were half the things she had done with Hana since. So will many, many, many of the things they may wind up doing together, if (if!) this leap of faith works in her favour.
She looks up at Hana to see if she's laughing at the memory too. She isn't. In fact, Kiara isn't even sure Hana's reacting yet to what she's saying. Perfectly still, her eyes never moving from the box, so wide that they would go bloodshot if they were widened any further. Kiara swallows, and finds that her throat feels suddenly, inexplicably sore.
"I could never tell what it was about you that changed all that. I still don't. All I know is that...around you, Hana, I feel so much more brave. To let go of the need to plan and organize. To not be too afraid of what will follow - whether it goes in my favour or not. I find myself not just willing, but eager, to trust my gut."
Kiara's eyes search every inch of Hana's face as she opens the box, revealing the ring inside. It's a gorgeous piece, all platinum and sparkling diamonds. The smaller stones form a cluster around a massive one, leading the viewer to believe they are seeing a glittering snowflake, fallen fresh from the heavens.
Kiara had known the minute she saw the ring that it was the one. That it would remind them of the first time they confessed their love. Of their very first date, of the first time they shared Hana's cup of homemade hot chocolate. Of why the two of them will always love winters.
Hana's fingers move, trembling, towards her mouth, her face suddenly flushed. She remembers it too.
"Hana Lee," A frisson of fear slithers down Kiara's spine. "Will you marry me?"
When Hana finally opens her mouth, several seconds later, Kiara has to strain to hear her voice.
"I - I -" her eyes dart away from Kiara as if she's just remembered something important - her beautiful bronzed skin suddenly a little drained of colour. The next few words, she says in a "I.... I'll be back. Give me five minutes? I...just remembered something."
She leaves without waiting for an answer.
Kiara sinks into the grass, covering her face in her hands.
What have I just done?
--
All the way back from her room in the palace to the lake, the pouch hanging from her wrist feeling only a slight bit heavier, Hana cannot stop mentally kicking herself.
"You fool! You imbecile! Bèn dàn!!" Hana curses herself as she speeds up her sprint into a run, "What happened to your tongue? What kind of reaction was that?? What will Kiara think?"
Her mind now sprints miles ahead of her feet, racing in panicked ferocity over the possibilities.
With any luck, Kiara could still be waiting - puzzled and perhaps a little worried. Or she could be actively panicking, the way she does (on very rare occasions) when a plan goes terribly wrong.
Or...or...
Hana holds the silk pouch from her wrist in a deathlike grip as she speeds up towards Lake Sôse. Or.
The thought of that lovely, open space completely devoid of Kiara, of that beguiling combination of rose and jasmine emanating from her favourite Dior J'adore perfume, makes Hana's stomach drop to her feet.
It isn't until she sees that that heartbreakingly familiar figure of Kiara's, hunched over the grass, that Hana allows herself to breathe.
Kiara is there. Shoulders bent, head buried in her hands, almost stumbling as she tries to get up when she sees Hana.
Morose. Defeated. But still there.
Without another thought, Hana rushes into Kiara's arms, almost knocking her off her feet.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Hana whispers against her hair. "I wasn't trying to run away. I really had to get something. For you."
Kiara pulls back to look into her eyes, and when she does Hana's heart twists at the sight of unshed tears. "I thought I'd scared you off."
Hana's own laughter quavers, pitched high in disbelief. "I've just pledged myself to you this afternoon, body and soul, at the palace fountain. This -" she lifts Kiara's left hand to her chest, her thumb caressing the empty space on her beloved's ring finger " - just makes it so much more real."
Kiara's arms wrap around her, pulling Hana flush to her. Hana can feel Kiara shake as she giggles in response. "...you mean to say that I'd have saved myself so much stress if I'd just remembered those coins."
"Yes, qīn'ài de, a thousand times yes." She cups Kiara's face, pressing their foreheads together. "Place that ring where it belongs, Kiki. I can't wait to see it on my finger."
Hana holds her tight until Kiara's breathing becomes slower, calmer. She raises her newly-adorned hand for Kiara to see - marvelling at how the ring really mimics the glow of a snow crystal in the winter sun.
When they part, shyly, reluctantly, Hana begins to fiddle with the silk pouch.
"Here's what I'd gone to bring."
Kiara's eyes brighten at the sight of the box in her hand; a wave of warmth floods through Hana in anticipation of her response. Kiara gasps the minute she opens the box, revealing a delicate, intricately carved rose gold ring, flanked by small diamonds on all four corners, cradling a bigger one at the center.
"Rose gold," Kiara murmurs in wonder.
"Yes," Hana brushes her fingers over Kiara's knuckles. She'd told her once, long ago, how revered that metal was in her home province Bethulia. How Bethulian jewellers and goldsmiths and young women swore by the rosy hue it exuded. How it was a perfect amalgamation of three precious metals - all highly valued in the province. How tied it was to their folktales and bridal rituals.
"Copper..silver...gold." Kiara's tears glitter like diamonds before she lets them fall. "For friendship. For love. For belonging."
Hana smiles, her hand still stroking Kiara's cheek. "You remembered."
Kiara rolls her still-moist eyes, trying hard not to sniff - it would take out all the humour in this situation. "It's hard to forget a ritual we'd performed just ten minutes ago, ma moité."
"I'd planned to give you this ring a week from now," Hana says, shaking her head at her own impulsiveness as the ring she'd chosen on a fanciful whim so long ago, now finds its home. "I've been holding onto it for far too long."
Kiara caresses the stone on her own finger lovingly, admiring the way the rose gold glows on her skin. When she speaks, her voice is breathless in anticipation. "How long?"
For several minutes, Hana's only response is to pull Kiara back in her arms again. Her hand slides slowly, almost with a tinge of regret, down the dip of Kiara's waist on her left side. The wound that had once served as a constant, searing reminder of so much (of her vulnerability, of her inability to run from pain, of what she'd once considered her failures), has healed in more ways than one - only a faded scar that Hana never fails to kiss, now remains.
"For seven months," Hana's voice shakes at the memory, "Since the night after Homecoming Ball."
With a choked sob, Kiara enfolds Hana into her arms, almost as if she'd want to absorb her into every cell of her body. Fervently, reverently, she presses her lips all over Hana's face - her eyelids, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, all the little-known, barely-noticed parts of her. It takes her a while - perhaps too long, in Hana's opinion - for Kiara's lips to meet hers, but she welcomes the sweet torture of waiting.
"Mon cœur," Kiara says between kisses, "ma raison de vivre."
When they part, the two women keep each other's hands interlinked, one left hand over the other. Neither of them will remember how long they stay at the lake; only that they never want this joy, this warm afterglow of seeing their dreams come true...to end.
The empty spaces on their ring fingers, over which they'd each stolen such secret, hungry glances today, now bear the mark of their lovers. Now bear the most tangible signs of their love, their memories, their promises, their commitment.
Together forever.
--
Translation:
Ma moité - a romantic endearment in French, meaning "my other half"
Qīn'ài de - Mandarin Chinese for "my dear"/"darling"
Bèn dàn - Mandarin Chinese cuss word that means "stupid egg!"
Mon cœur - French endearment, meaning "my heart"
Ma raison de vivre - French for "my reason to live"
--
References for Hana and Kiara's engagement rings:
Kiara:
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(Source: Maxine Jewellery)
Hana:
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(Source: This article on engagement rings, but the actual pic itself came from Blue Rose Photography)
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cassiopeiacorvus · 8 months ago
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HLAW 2024 DAY 5
Family/Friendship/Romance
tagging: @hanaleeappreciationweek, @lizzybeth1986, and @sazanes
As we all know, I'm Team Hanara for life, so here's my introduction for Hana and Kiara's three kids.
General Notes
All three kids call Hana “māmā” and Kiara “maman”.
They split their time between Castelsarreillan and Hana’s duchy Anthopolis.
I designed their personalities around the concept of the Freudian Trio where Jolie is the Id, Basim is the Ego, and Oswald is the Superego.
🤘🏽Oswald "Ozzy" Theron-Lee🤘🏽
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BIRTHDAY: ♉ 07 MAY 2024
ENNEAGRAM: 1W9 Self-Preservation Instinct
MBTI: ISFP-T The Adventurer
NOTES
Had a goth phase in his teens where he went by “Oz”. Was confused about why Uncle Drake and Titi Tzipporah jokingly called him Ozzy Osbourne because he didn't initially know who that was.
His hobby is jewelry making. He started it out with simple embroidery bracelets but has expanded to metalwork.
Will be the future Duke of Castelsarreillan after Kiara passes on the title to him.
🌻Jolie "Jojo" Theron-Lee🌻
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BIRTHDAY: ♐ 15 DEC 2027
ENNEAGRAM: 7W8 Social Instinct
MBTI: ENTP-A The Debater
NOTES:
Is best friends with Liam and Tzipporah’s youngest daughter Corinne. It is an experience every time they're together.
Dyed her hair pink after she heard that Hana wanted to as a teen. Since then, she's experimented with every color under the sun.
When I initially designed her, she looked like a mini-Hana, but has now shifted to looking like a mini version of her grandfather Hakim.
🌊Basim "Bas" Theron-Lee🌊
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BIRTHDAY: ♎ 25 SEP 2029
ENNEAGRAM: 9W8 Attraction Instinct
MBTI: ESFJ-A The Consul
NOTES:
Was given his name because he smiled a lot as a baby. Was humorously introduced as "our bouncing baby boy, Basim" by his mothers.
Shares Kiara’s love of languages. As he gets older, he starts collaborating on some of her translation projects.
Like water, he can be a tranquil lake or a raging ocean if you threaten him or his family.
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